New 22-250 barrel

[Dick284]

The time is nearing to replace the 22-250 barrel on my VLS 700. I’m all set up with copious amounts of brass and 55’s for it, but I’m hoping to maybe run some higher BC bullets from time to time(max 80gr).
Should I order a 1 in 9 or 1 in 8 twist barrel?

[brewster29]

I would go 8". You will find it shoots 55's just as well as a slower twist, and will be perfect for 77-80 gr. At 22-250 velocities you might disintegrate fragile bullets like the Hornady SX.

[pikergolf]

1 in 8

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by brewster29

I would go 8". You will find it shoots 55's just as well as a slower twist, and will be perfect for 77-80 gr. At 22-250 velocities you might disintegrate fragile bullets like the Hornady SX.

I agree with the 1:8. If you use the 55 grain SXSP it won't frag in the 22-250. If you use the 50 grain, you need to keep the speed down under 3500 fps with a 1:8 twist, in the 223 or the 22-250. Like the others, I have never seen any issues shooting light bullets in a fast twist. My 223 had a 1:7 and it would shoot 40 grain Vmax at 3900 fps in the .2s consistently and 36 grain Varmint Grenades into .3 at 4000 fps.

[Smokinyotes]

With the speed of the 22-250 I’m wondering if you could use a 1:10 twist and still stabilize the heavies. If you go with a 1:8 twist for sure you will have to back it off a little as Dean mentioned.

If it were mine I would go see mike or Karl at KS and see what they have to say.

I know when I built my 257wby I wanted a fast twist. mike said I would notice lower velocities if I went that route.

[marky_mark]

Use the Berger stability calculator

[catnthehat]

Our 1:8 barrels have no issues with the long bullets in our .223's , and my buddy built a 1:8 for heavies in a swift with no issues .
I would ask your gun smith however as I know he has preferences for certain twists in the barrel he uses .
Cat

[Dean2]

Even with the case capacity of a 22-250 you are only going to get an 80 or 90 grain bullet to a max of 3000 FPS, and that is running them pretty hot. Most of the time it will be 2800 or 2900 to get decent brass life. At those speeds and bullet length a 1:8 twist is the minimum that will work. A 1:7 would be better if you want to should the 90 Grain VLD Bergers for example. When I talked about slowing a bullet down I was referring only to the Hornady SPSX 50 grain which is designed for a max velocity of about 3600 out of a 1:12 twist, so less in a faster twist. Everything else will hold together fine. It really does come down to how heavy/long a bullet you want to shoot. At 65 grains a 10 twist is lots but you can also pump them out a bunch faster. Stability is a function of bullet length and speed versus twist. A bullet that stabilizes great out of an 8 twist at 3500 fps will be unstable at 3000 fps.